News

Film of Mallory’s Everest bid comes in from the cold

John Noel at work on the 1924 Everest expedition (Royal Geographical Society)

UNSEEN film footage from George Mallory’s ill-fated expedition to Everest in
1924 is to be released by the daughter of the cameraman.

The silent film about the doomed climb, called The Epic of Everest, is being
restored and will have the extra material added along with a narrative and
music. The additional footage was found by the daughter of John Noel and
handed to the British Film Institute.

The feature-length film, scheduled for release this autumn, will fulfil the
wishes of Noel, who died in 1989, aged 99. He wrote to the BFI in 1984
saying: “I would welcome this destiny for my picture . . . a sort of maximum
attainment in my life.”

It may also finally achieve the commercial success which eluded him, after he
risked a fortune by paying £10,000 for the film and photographic rights of
the expedition. Noel’s contribution, partly offset by backers including the
Aga Khan, bankrolled the climb.